Consumers

HOME MEDICINES REVIEW

Do your medicines need a check-up?

Taking the right medicines the right way improves your health and helps you maintain your independence. Sometimes, however, you may not be getting the full benefit of your medicines. Or more seriously, medicines can occasionally make you sicker. This can happen if medicines are taken incorrectly. Sometimes it can happen if you take prescription medicines together with other healthcare products.

What is a Home Medicines Review?
A home medicines review is a free health service funded by the Commonwealth Government and provided jointly by doctors and pharmacists.

A Home Medicines Review involves a pharmacist visiting your home and reviewing all your medicines. The pharmacist then works together with your doctor to develop a plan to manage and record the medicines you take.

By working together with you, your doctor and pharmacist can identify any medication problems and make sure your medicines are:

  • The best treatment option for you
  • Suitable and safe to take together, and
  • Taken correctly

Why have a Home Medicines Review?

A Home Medicines Review will help you better manage your medicines. It will help:

  • Increase your knowledge about your medicines
  • Increase your confidence in using your medicines; and
  • Reduce your risk of an avoidable trip to hospital

Would you or someone you care for benefit from a Home Medicines Review?

  • Have you recently been discharged from hospital?
  • Are you taking several medicines? (including supermarket or herbal medicines)
  • Have you had recent changes to your medicines?
  • Do your medicines need monitoring? (eg. blood thinning medicines)
  • Do any of your medicines make you feel unwell?
  • Do you use devices to assist with medication management such as monitoring blood glucose or a nebuliser?
  • Do you attend more than one doctor including general practitioners and specialists?
  • Are you sometimes unsure about which medicines you should be taking?
  • Would you like to be more confident about understanding your medicines?

If your GP thinks you would benefit from a home medicines review and you agree to this, your GP then refers you to the community pharmacy of your choice or a pharmacist that works closely with your GP. An appointment will be made for a pharmacist to see you in your home.

The Pharmacist who visits you will look at all your medicines. This will include both your prescription medicines and any that you have bought without a prescription, for example at a supermarket or a health food store. The pharmacist will talk to you about any difficulties or uncertainties that you may have.

The pharmacist will talk to your GP about the results of the home visit and the GP will then talk to you about any changes that might be needed.

Talk to your GP or pharmacist if you think you might benefit from a Home Medicines Review.